Lunching with frenemies: A taste of bipartisanship

But for a few brief moments on Monday, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans actually seemed to enjoy each other’s company over an elaborate three-course lunch in the Capitol’s opulent National Statuary Hall.

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Obama toasts Congress at inaugural luncheon

They traded jokes and toasted one another. House Republicans, who rarely get face time with the president, embraced and took pictures with their archenemy. They dined on South Dakota bison, butternut squash purée and sour cream ice cream. So maybe — just maybe — this brief aura of bipartisanship can ease the gridlock in a Congress that has failed to solve the nation’s problems.

“It’s a new beginning. It really was great. It was outstanding,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said as he was leaving the lunch with his gift bag that included a framed depiction of the Capitol at the onset of the Civil War. “I hope that feeling can continue — for at least a day or two.”

“The president worked all the tables. I was sitting there, and I got a slap on the back, and I turned around, and it was the president of the United States,” said Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “It was impressive that he took the time to do that. He’s reelected already.”

It’s a tradition that dates back to the late 1800s, when William McKinley lunched with guests after his inaugural address. And for the past six decades, it has taken on the modern form of pomp — champagne toasts, light banter and gift-giving — in Statuary Hall, the House’s pre-Civil War home for more than five decades and the resting place of towering statues of the likes of Brigham Young,Daniel Webster and soon, Rosa Parks.

“I always enjoyed this lunch more than anything we did in the Capitol,” said Vice President Joe Biden, a 36-year veteran of the Senate. “It’s always a new beginning when we gather in this room. There’s a sense — sometimes it’s fleeting — that maybe we can really begin to work together.”

Still, unlike the figures immortalized in the hall, who could rise above partisan squabbles to solve intractable issues hounding the country, this era of politicians has been marked by the inability to ultimately solve crises of their own making — namely over the budget deficit. And the partisan rancor is slated to begin anew as soon as Tuesday as the House grapples with raising the debt ceiling and in the Senate over reforming the filibuster.

The culture of Capitol Hill usually keeps both sides in their own camps: House Republicans and Democrats privately hold retreats to strategize how they can defeat the other; Senate Democrats and Republicans dine daily in partisan gatherings to secretly plot their political tactics. On the weekends, lawmakers are back home in their states and districts, making little time to create bipartisan relationships. And Obama spends scant time fostering relationships with rank-and-file lawmakers from both parties — and even rarer are his trips to the Capitol these days.

“I miss this place,” Obama said as he entered the Capitol before his inaugural address.

Added Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.): “It’s very easy to make accusations when you don’t actually rub elbows with people.”

So it was a rarity on Monday to see Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) chatting it up with Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, who was sitting at his table; or Bill Clinton shaking the hand of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the vice presidential candidate whom he attacked repeatedly on the campaign trail; or House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — the longtime nemesis of the president — presenting the Obamas with a crystal vase engraved with a hand-carved sketch of the White House.